Is This Racist?

[Asclepias]

No, you are not racist for enjoying being around people that you share commonalities with. You would only be a racist if you think your race is superior to any others. That is the definition for a racist. Everyone is entitled to their preferences though.

If the commonalities that matter the most to a person are racial, then that makes you a racist. You might not be a raging, foaming at the mouth racist who burns crosses, but seeing skin color as the most important commonality with a person is a racist point of view.

So if I said blacks are the best basketball players you would call me a racist ?

Where do you get this idea? As far as I know, that answer can be statistically answered. It would be silly to assume that every black person can play ball, though.

That has nothing to do with one's preference for companions.

It really cannot even be statistically answered unless you throw in all the factors. You had a sport basketball that was once predominantly white that is now predominantly Black. Another sport (volleyball) with very similar basic skill sets is predominantly white. Go figure.

 

[ricechickie]

No, you are not racist for enjoying being around people that you share commonalities with. You would only be a racist if you think your race is superior to any others. That is the definition for a racist. Everyone is entitled to their preferences though.

If the commonalities that matter the most to a person are racial, then that makes you a racist. You might not be a raging, foaming at the mouth racist who burns crosses, but seeing skin color as the most important commonality with a person is a racist point of view.

Where did anyone say it was the MOST important? And even if a person did feel that way, that STILL doesn't mean that particular person is a racist.

rac·ist
ˈrāsəst/
noun

1. 1.
   a person who believes that a particular race is superior to another.
   synonyms: racial bigot, racialist, xenophobe, chauvinist, supremacist More
   

adjective

1. 1.
   having or showing the belief that a particular race is superior to another.
   "we are investigating complaints about racist abuse at the club"

Sorry, I thought you'd want to be around people that you think are among the best the human race has to offer. I know that I like to do that; I just don't judge them on that by their melanin levels. If you decide your companionship based on race, that is saying something about how you view that race over others.

This is nothing to get defensive over. Nobody says that a person who prefers to hang out with Asians more than any other race is equivalent to the KKK.

 

[emilynghiem]

Jefferson wrote down principles in the Declaration of Independence in English,
which is the language we use today to reach agreement on democratic principles,
where two the most credited sources of the politics we use today being
* Rousseau who is identified with the Radical Liberalism carried on by Liberals today
* Locke who is identified with the Classic Liberalism carried on by Conservatives today
Both being European or White.

The Declaration of Independence is the only founding document that specifically
cites "consent of the governed" as the source of authority for civil governance.

I see this as a spiritual process by which the Natural Laws given by God
were made Statutory in Writing by the Founding Fathers who drew up
the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and other historical arguments defending
and defining checks and balances and separation of power to structure
a govt and democratic process through which Equal Justice could eventually be realized.

So this spirit of these laws, coming from God, were given to the world
through our Founding Fathers using European terms and English language
that we could use to hash out the rest of our process of fulfilling democratic
principles of self-government, left to future generations to work out as we evolved.

This linear process of reforming laws in writing, through a system of govt
that is designed to check itself, including protecting free speech and free press
as a check on govt, is something we inherited from our European and American
ancestors.

And yes, the structure is designed to incorporate change and reform when used correctly.

So ALL cultures, all religions, all groups can exercise free speech, free press, right to
petition and due process of law to improve upon what we have, and take it to the next level
of social and political development by civil/democratic means.

I dont get why Jefferson being white enabled him to write down something? People from ever race have written laws down. There is nothing unique about these laws.He was espousing an ideology. He didnt dream up this ideology because he was white. Now add to this that he was a hypocrite regarding these same laws. What have whites done that is specifically something only whites have done and have reason to be proud of?

He rose to the position he was in from his spiritual, cultural and social background and lineage.
Being White or European is part of that heritage.
You can't take that factor out of the equation and have the same person.

We are a mix of all the things that make up our spiritual DNA.
It's how we use it that defines us and our path in life.

I tend to focus on Jefferson because I feel I have also inherited
karma spiritually from either Jefferson or other Founding Fathers.
I have this weird Constitutional thread running through the fibre of my being.

I could trace some of my political poetry to my father's father who was
a law professor and political poet in Vietnam. But the part of me that
rails on and on about Constitutional equal inclusion and whatnot,
I would like to trace this back to Jefferson or wherever it came from.

I probably have as much karma with the Christian church as much as I go on and on about that.

So I understand what you mean, that some of this can be independent of race.
But in Jefferson's case, can you really argue that he would not have risen to power
as President and Secretary of State without being White at that time.

If that is the role he needed to play, and the image he needed to represent to get
certain jobs done, then God would incarnate him as White, Deist, male etc.

Just like to get other things done, I am incarnated as Asian American female
both a Democrat and Constitutionalist. English speaking only. Born and living in Texas.

All of this is part of who I am in order to meet my purpose in life.

Same with you, same with Jefferson, Buddha or Einstein.
The little old lady across the street from me, or the young
black boy adopted and made famous by his hug with a white police officer.

All those factors make up part of the story.
To me it is spiritual first, and then it manifests in these different ways.
Fascinating, really.

Has nothing to do with him being white though. There has been royalty of every race that rose to greatness from poverty. The disconnect for whites seems to be in believing a man who said the following is a great man and have a hard time seeing him for what he was.

"I advance it therefore as a suspicion only, that the blacks, whether originally a distinct race, or made distinct by time and circumstances, are inferior to the whites in the endowments both of body and mind. … This unfortunate difference of colour, and perhaps of faculty, is a powerful obstacle to the emancipation of these people."
-Thomas Jefferson

This is the same guy that said Black people smell bad but it must not have been that bad since he had sex with his slaves.

A. You can see both the good and the bad without denying one or the other.
Are you trying to deny the good, and yet criticize people for denying the bad?

Someone pointed out bad things about Dr. King.

Someone criticized Jesus for causing a tree to wither and die just to show off his power,
and for what he said to a woman, the only person BTW recorded in the Bible as talking back to Jesus where he accepted her answer.

From what I understand, Buddha at first did not want women in the fold, and had to be argued and talked into it.

People make fun of Einstein all the time, point to negative things about him.

Are you going to justify pulling people down just because you don't think they should be pulled up?

Why not credit both the good and the bad, and not fight over which is more predominant?

As for Jefferson and his views of slavery, I think he foresaw that slaves were not in a position
to merge into society at an equal level, and he argued for returning them to Africa and/or gradual abolition.

Given the mess we are still facing from not providing means of equal ownership of land and businesses,
I think he was right that we were not prepared to bring everyone up to equality.

i don't agree with his solution of forced deportation of slaves back to Africa, but I do believe people should have free and equal choice to colonize and claim equal land ownership
where they can develop to self-government as equals, and not be forever under the lordship of others.

B. I disagree that the same things could have happened if
Jefferson and the Founding Fathers weren't White.

You would be talking about a different time and place.

Just like Mandela and Tutu were able to lead the people in Africa because they are black. White men could not have achieved that same unity in that context at that time.

I'm not saying White or Black or superior or inferior.
I'm saying that to lead in certain circumstances, the people they needed to
identify with were of a particular race for a reason.

All cultures and generations need to go through stages of development,
so how the Native Americans evolve in their spiritual and cultural lineage
and how the Blacks and Whites and Asians etc. do
is part of the bigger picture. We do identify by race as part of our identity,
so that is a factor. It doesn't make one better than the other, just different.

Jefferson was a pedophile that took advantage of his slaves while espousing all men were created equal. I dont recall MLK doing that. You cant seperate what Jefferson did from his words. He was supposedly about equal rights just as MLK was but he owned slaves. MLK didnt own any slaves.

The Enigma Of Jefferson Mind and Body In Conflict - New York Times

Sorry but I just dont see him as a great person. If the founding fathers were not white I dont see how that would have a changed anything other than there being no white people here. There is nothing specifically unique about whites that no other race has done.

Dear A: some people worship Obama as representing some great ideal, and others don't see him as anything special at all.
I guess to each his own.

As for your assessment of Jefferson, it seems your focus is on the slavery and not on the other things he contributed.
He wanted to be remembered as the author of the Declaration of Independence, that has influenced more people than we can know. That is the most prominent document I can cite that states that the just powers of govt are derived from consent of the governed.

So that is the spirit of the Constitutional laws, but that isn't stated in the Constitution, but in the Declaration of Independence.

If you are going to strike down ALL of Jefferson's contributions to the FUTURE growth of humanity in reaching maturity in democratic self-govt, which wasn't going to be realized in his day, not when America's building was so dependent on slave labor, there were Irish who were abused as forced "indentured servants" and raped to breed slaves as the blacks were,
and there were BLACK slave owners who owned property and depended on BLACK slaves to work their land.

Are you going to strike everyone down the same way?

Which of us today has not depended on SLAVE labor of workers abused in other countries
in order to enjoy the privileges we have -- of affordable clothes, and freedom to choose and even to waste and throw things away, of cell phones and cars and other conveniences.

So if we are all "taking advantage" of poor people in other countries so we can have our economic benefits,
does that make us ALL EVIL.

Asclepias I don't mind you picking apart people, but if you did so consistently
you would find as much good as bad in each person.

King did things that were criticized as well. snopes.com Four Things You Didn t Know About Martin Luther King
You can look at his speech and his writings, and say he took them from other people's ideas, so big deal.
How was he any more influential than the next person.

Some people may not get anything out of King, the same way you get nothing out of Jefferson.

So at least they would be equal, it would balance out.

When I compare the economy we have today, and how we aren't all ready to convert slave labor to fair trade,
then I can understand how back in the days of building America, people were using black slaves to work the land,
and allow the economy to grow so we could support innovations such as the Industrial Revolution, and build from there;
and we did rely on Chinese laborers to build the railroads, and there were abuses going on we may never know about

When Jefferson or even Black slave owners bought land, the slaves were also bought and sold as property
MORTGAGED by the banks. So they had to work the land enough to pay back the cost of the slaves.
The owners were not always free to free their slaves, just like you and I couldn't afford to
"give our cars away" or "give our houses away" if we still owe money on them.

Today we coudn't afford computes or phones, and a lot of other goods,
if we suddenly spiked all the prices up to pay minimum wage to all the people providing labor in the chain.

We do have to make these changes gradually.
And Jefferson was honest and wise enough to know that wasn't going to happen in his lifetime.

I don't agree with any actions involving rape or pedophilia.
But I would treat that equally as claims that King committed adultery.

That doesn't diminish the good influence and wisdom he left behind that helps other people to better themselves.
And if the words and beliefs of Jefferson help people OVERCOME political enslavement and abuses,
that is still good even if he didn't fully overcome these but participated in the problems.

I am looking at the overall process of reaching equal justice.

And in that process, the words and wisdom of King and Jefferson help teach people the CONCEPTS that are universal
and key to humanity achieving justice.

What their flaws teach us is not to go there, not to make the same mistakes or be the same hypocrites we despite so much, but to be BETTER than the generations before us.

That shouldn't stop us from taking the GOOD principles that we should achieve, and keep building toward those goals.

I do give equal credit to King in reaching his audience and Jefferson in reaching those who relate that way.

Thanks for putting Jefferson in human perspective, because it is important to see that for all the good someone leaves behind there is equal bad they do as well. So that way, we see people are equal, and none can really be placed above or below anyone else. We all have our strengths, and all have our weaknesses. Even the best people have a bad side, and even the worst people have a good side that has inspired or helped someone else.

 

[Howey]

KKK Billboard Causes Stir - Ozarksfirst

It is hateful to hate other people's people. And that's what you racists do.

 

[emilynghiem]

No, you are not racist for enjoying being around people that you share commonalities with. You would only be a racist if you think your race is superior to any others. That is the definition for a racist. Everyone is entitled to their preferences though.

If the commonalities that matter the most to a person are racial, then that makes you a racist. You might not be a raging, foaming at the mouth racist who burns crosses, but seeing skin color as the most important commonality with a person is a racist point of view.

Where did anyone say it was the MOST important? And even if a person did feel that way, that STILL doesn't mean that particular person is a racist.

rac·ist
ˈrāsəst/
noun

1. 1.
   a person who believes that a particular race is superior to another.
   synonyms: racial bigot, racialist, xenophobe, chauvinist, supremacist More
   

adjective

1. 1.
   having or showing the belief that a particular race is superior to another.
   "we are investigating complaints about racist abuse at the club"

Hi ChrisL
If everyone agreed to use racist/racism as limited as you have here, that would work.
But unfortunately people don't.

Instead of clinging to the word racist/racism and trying to get people to fit their grievances in that tiny box,
I find it better to start with what their grievances really are, and then find the best language that expresses that clearly.
And it is more likely to be specific issues and not the R word.

Here is a LOOSER definition I would go with to encompass more people's issues.
If we start off more inclusive, and then get specific from there, we'd be too busy discussing
what the issue really is with each person and case, and wouldn't argue over whether or not the R word applies.

rac·ism
(rā′sĭz′əm)
n.
1. The belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability and that a particular race is superior to others.
2. Discrimination or prejudice based on race.

^ this second definition is what people use loosely ^
most complaints are such a mix of personal and social factors,
it is vague and broad and not just an issue of race anyway.

So I find it is better to start with the broader approach in #2.
And by the time we pinpoint what is the problem, it's usually a lot more than just race as the factor.
So we avoid arguing that way. We INCLUDE and distinguish between all the other problems
that are getting thrown together and expressed as "racial bias."

As for undoing layers of "racial conditioning"
The Center for the Healing of Racism set up a series of discussions on each of 10-13 different levels,
from internalized/individual "racial conditioning" to institutionalized/collective conditions.

If there are that many different levels these biases can express or embed in people's responses,
I doubt that is going to fit within your narrow definition of "superiority by race."

If the people with years of experience in volunteering to heal people of their fear of racism
can't even fit "racism" into a single isolated type, but have to address several layers to undo the damages,
what makes you think your single definition is going to work for all people?

I think we need to focus on the content of what people are saying, and haggle less over the words.

 

[hortysir]

Wow, I dont know. What is the KKK? And what are they all about? I wish I knew because not knowing their history makes it so hard to judge if this is indeed racist

So because of who said it, that makes the statement less true?

 

[emilynghiem]

KKK Billboard Causes Stir - Ozarksfirst

It is hateful to hate other people's people. And that's what you racists do.

^ the first step to stop the hate and separation, ^
is to include each other as equal partners in solving the mutual problems and sharing equal responsiblity for solutions.
Not saying YOU are do the hating, not us.
If both sides keep projecting blame onto the other, nothing changes.
It's when we see it's a mutual change that needs to take place, we can take those steps together.
Reach out, and help each other up, to be better people for both our sake. Not saying the problem is all one sided.

 

[emilynghiem]

Wow, I dont know. What is the KKK? And what are they all about? I wish I knew because not knowing their history makes it so hard to judge if this is indeed racist

So because of who said it, that makes the statement less true?

It depends on the meaning and context.
It can always go both ways.

You can take something that someone said with good intent,
and cite it out of context or in a different context and make it into something bad.

You can also take something that someone with bad intentions or flaws said,
put it in a better context, and get truth out of it.

People tend to be a mix of good and bad, strengths and weaknesses.
We can choose to try to make the best of our good sides,
while correcting our bad sides. Or we can pick apart each other by our flaws and have nothing left to go on.

 

[ChrisL]

No, you are not racist for enjoying being around people that you share commonalities with. You would only be a racist if you think your race is superior to any others. That is the definition for a racist. Everyone is entitled to their preferences though.

If the commonalities that matter the most to a person are racial, then that makes you a racist. You might not be a raging, foaming at the mouth racist who burns crosses, but seeing skin color as the most important commonality with a person is a racist point of view.

Where did anyone say it was the MOST important? And even if a person did feel that way, that STILL doesn't mean that particular person is a racist.

rac·ist
ˈrāsəst/
noun

1. 1.
   a person who believes that a particular race is superior to another.
   synonyms: racial bigot, racialist, xenophobe, chauvinist, supremacist More

adjective

1. 1.
   having or showing the belief that a particular race is superior to another.
   "we are investigating complaints about racist abuse at the club"

Sorry, I thought you'd want to be around people that you think are among the best the human race has to offer. I know that I like to do that; I just don't judge them on that by their melanin levels. If you decide your companionship based on race, that is saying something about how you view that race over others.

This is nothing to get defensive over. Nobody says that a person who prefers to hang out with Asians more than any other race is equivalent to the KKK.

Who is defensive? Not me. I'm just saying that I don't think that if a person chooses to hang out with people of a similar background that it means they are racists. They could be, but it doesn't mean that.

I've only had a few black friends in my life because I grew up in a fairly small suburb of Massachusetts. However, I did have a couple of acquaintances who were black. I never felt "superior" to any of them. The kids I did know who went to school with who were pretty much accepted by all of us. I think that, with the younger generations, racism is not nearly as prevalent as some of you might have experienced, or experience with your own age group (don't know if that applies to you - don't know your age group). It just so happens that since we didn't have very many black people in our town when I was growing up, I was only ever exposed to about 1 or 2 black people on a regular basis, so yeah, I hung out with pretty much ALL white kids.

Oh yeah, I also had an Asian friend. Her name was Bonnie.

Another point I would like to make is that these black kids that I knew were not any different. They were middle class kids. I think "differences" come from social and environmental differences, like class, etc.

 

[ChrisL]

No, you are not racist for enjoying being around people that you share commonalities with. You would only be a racist if you think your race is superior to any others. That is the definition for a racist. Everyone is entitled to their preferences though.

If the commonalities that matter the most to a person are racial, then that makes you a racist. You might not be a raging, foaming at the mouth racist who burns crosses, but seeing skin color as the most important commonality with a person is a racist point of view.

Where did anyone say it was the MOST important? And even if a person did feel that way, that STILL doesn't mean that particular person is a racist.

rac·ist
ˈrāsəst/
noun

1. 1.
   a person who believes that a particular race is superior to another.
   synonyms: racial bigot, racialist, xenophobe, chauvinist, supremacist More

adjective

1. 1.
   having or showing the belief that a particular race is superior to another.
   "we are investigating complaints about racist abuse at the club"

Hi ChrisL
If everyone agreed to use racist/racism as limited as you have here, that would work.
But unfortunately people don't.

Instead of clinging to the word racist/racism and trying to get people to fit their grievances in that tiny box,
I find it better to start with what their grievances really are, and then find the best language that expresses that clearly.
And it is more likely to be specific issues and not the R word.

Here is a LOOSER definition I would go with to encompass more people's issues.
If we start off more inclusive, and then get specific from there, we'd be too busy discussing
what the issue really is with each person and case, and wouldn't argue over whether or not the R word applies.

rac·ism
(rā′sĭz′əm)
n.
1. The belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability and that a particular race is superior to others.
2. Discrimination or prejudice based on race.

^ this second definition is what people use loosely ^
most complaints are such a mix of personal and social factors,
it is vague and broad and not just an issue of race anyway.

So I find it is better to start with the broader approach in #2.
And by the time we pinpoint what is the problem, it's usually a lot more than just race as the factor.
So we avoid arguing that way. We INCLUDE and distinguish between all the other problems
that are getting thrown together and expressed as "racial bias."

As for undoing layers of "racial conditioning"
The Center for the Healing of Racism set up a series of discussions on each of 10-13 different levels,
from internalized/individual "racial conditioning" to institutionalized/collective conditions.

If there are that many different levels these biases can express or embed in people's responses,
I doubt that is going to fit within your narrow definition of "superiority by race."

If the people with years of experience in volunteering to heal people of their fear of racism
can't even fit "racism" into a single isolated type, but have to address several layers to undo the damages,
what makes you think your single definition is going to work for all people?

I think we need to focus on the content of what people are saying, and haggle less over the words.

Well, how is it racist if you don't feel that your race is in any way superior? Perhaps you just don't have anything in common with the black people in your neighborhood, so you choose not to hang out with them. Does that make you a racist?

 

[Howey]

No, you are not racist for enjoying being around people that you share commonalities with. You would only be a racist if you think your race is superior to any others. That is the definition for a racist. Everyone is entitled to their preferences though.

If the commonalities that matter the most to a person are racial, then that makes you a racist. You might not be a raging, foaming at the mouth racist who burns crosses, but seeing skin color as the most important commonality with a person is a racist point of view.

Where did anyone say it was the MOST important? And even if a person did feel that way, that STILL doesn't mean that particular person is a racist.

rac·ist
ˈrāsəst/
noun

1. 1.
   a person who believes that a particular race is superior to another.
   synonyms: racial bigot, racialist, xenophobe, chauvinist, supremacist More

adjective

1. 1.
   having or showing the belief that a particular race is superior to another.
   "we are investigating complaints about racist abuse at the club"

Sorry, I thought you'd want to be around people that you think are among the best the human race has to offer. I know that I like to do that; I just don't judge them on that by their melanin levels. If you decide your companionship based on race, that is saying something about how you view that race over others.

This is nothing to get defensive over. Nobody says that a person who prefers to hang out with Asians more than any other race is equivalent to the KKK.

Who is defensive? Not me. I'm just saying that I don't think that if a person chooses to hang out with people of a similar background that it means they are racists. They could be, but it doesn't mean that.

I've only had a few black friends in my life because I grew up in a fairly small suburb of Massachusetts. However, I did have a couple of acquaintances who were black. I never felt "superior" to any of them. The kids I did know who went to school with who were pretty much accepted by all of us. I think that, with the younger generations, racism is not nearly as prevalent as some of you might have experienced, or experience with your own age group (don't know if that applies to you - don't know your age group). It just so happens that since we didn't have very many black people in our town when I was growing up, I was only ever exposed to about 1 or 2 black people on a regular basis, so yeah, I hung out with pretty much ALL white kids.

Oh yeah, I also had an Asian friend. Her name was Bonnie.

Another point I would like to make is that these black kids that I knew were not any different. They were middle class kids. I think "differences" come from social and environmental differences, like class, etc.

Racist cop out: I have a black friend.

 

[ChrisL]

No, you are not racist for enjoying being around people that you share commonalities with. You would only be a racist if you think your race is superior to any others. That is the definition for a racist. Everyone is entitled to their preferences though.

If the commonalities that matter the most to a person are racial, then that makes you a racist. You might not be a raging, foaming at the mouth racist who burns crosses, but seeing skin color as the most important commonality with a person is a racist point of view.

Where did anyone say it was the MOST important? And even if a person did feel that way, that STILL doesn't mean that particular person is a racist.

rac·ist
ˈrāsəst/
noun

1. 1.
   a person who believes that a particular race is superior to another.
   synonyms: racial bigot, racialist, xenophobe, chauvinist, supremacist More

adjective

1. 1.
   having or showing the belief that a particular race is superior to another.
   "we are investigating complaints about racist abuse at the club"

Sorry, I thought you'd want to be around people that you think are among the best the human race has to offer. I know that I like to do that; I just don't judge them on that by their melanin levels. If you decide your companionship based on race, that is saying something about how you view that race over others.

This is nothing to get defensive over. Nobody says that a person who prefers to hang out with Asians more than any other race is equivalent to the KKK.

Who is defensive? Not me. I'm just saying that I don't think that if a person chooses to hang out with people of a similar background that it means they are racists. They could be, but it doesn't mean that.

I've only had a few black friends in my life because I grew up in a fairly small suburb of Massachusetts. However, I did have a couple of acquaintances who were black. I never felt "superior" to any of them. The kids I did know who went to school with who were pretty much accepted by all of us. I think that, with the younger generations, racism is not nearly as prevalent as some of you might have experienced, or experience with your own age group (don't know if that applies to you - don't know your age group). It just so happens that since we didn't have very many black people in our town when I was growing up, I was only ever exposed to about 1 or 2 black people on a regular basis, so yeah, I hung out with pretty much ALL white kids.

Oh yeah, I also had an Asian friend. Her name was Bonnie.

Another point I would like to make is that these black kids that I knew were not any different. They were middle class kids. I think "differences" come from social and environmental differences, like class, etc.

Racist cop out: I have a black friend.

Well, at least I'm not a gay attention whore moron.

 

[ChrisL]

If the commonalities that matter the most to a person are racial, then that makes you a racist. You might not be a raging, foaming at the mouth racist who burns crosses, but seeing skin color as the most important commonality with a person is a racist point of view.

Where did anyone say it was the MOST important? And even if a person did feel that way, that STILL doesn't mean that particular person is a racist.

rac·ist
ˈrāsəst/
noun

1. 1.
   a person who believes that a particular race is superior to another.
   synonyms: racial bigot, racialist, xenophobe, chauvinist, supremacist More

adjective

1. 1.
   having or showing the belief that a particular race is superior to another.
   "we are investigating complaints about racist abuse at the club"

Sorry, I thought you'd want to be around people that you think are among the best the human race has to offer. I know that I like to do that; I just don't judge them on that by their melanin levels. If you decide your companionship based on race, that is saying something about how you view that race over others.

This is nothing to get defensive over. Nobody says that a person who prefers to hang out with Asians more than any other race is equivalent to the KKK.

Who is defensive? Not me. I'm just saying that I don't think that if a person chooses to hang out with people of a similar background that it means they are racists. They could be, but it doesn't mean that.

I've only had a few black friends in my life because I grew up in a fairly small suburb of Massachusetts. However, I did have a couple of acquaintances who were black. I never felt "superior" to any of them. The kids I did know who went to school with who were pretty much accepted by all of us. I think that, with the younger generations, racism is not nearly as prevalent as some of you might have experienced, or experience with your own age group (don't know if that applies to you - don't know your age group). It just so happens that since we didn't have very many black people in our town when I was growing up, I was only ever exposed to about 1 or 2 black people on a regular basis, so yeah, I hung out with pretty much ALL white kids.

Oh yeah, I also had an Asian friend. Her name was Bonnie.

Another point I would like to make is that these black kids that I knew were not any different. They were middle class kids. I think "differences" come from social and environmental differences, like class, etc.

Racist cop out: I have a black friend.

Well, at least I'm not a gay attention whore moron.

Also, I'll bet I can get more guys than you, and I'm prettier than you too.

So, there are worse things I suppose, like being you.

 

[ChrisL]

This douchebag, Howie the fag, doesn't know how to read apparently either. If he did, he would clearly see that I said I didn't really have any black friends, other than a couple of middle-class black kids who were not from the inner city, did not speak in "ebonics" and acted no differently than any of us other kids. However, if we had some black kid from the inner city who acted like a thug and an ignoramus, then things might have been a little different.

People don't like people who act like that. I think a lot of people's "disdain" for "black culture" is based on that, more so than the color of their skin.

 

[Howey]

This douchebag, Howie the fag, doesn't know how to read apparently either. If he did, he would clearly see that I said I didn't really have any black friends, other than a couple of middle-class black kids who were not from the inner city, did not speak in "ebonics" and acted no differently than any of us other kids. However, if we had some black kid from the inner city who acted like a thug and an ignoramus, then things might have been a little different.

People don't like people who act like that. I think a lot of people's "disdain" for "black culture" is based on that, more so than the color of their skin.

Oh. You're a female?

What a CU*T

 

[ChrisL]

This douchebag, Howie the fag, doesn't know how to read apparently either. If he did, he would clearly see that I said I didn't really have any black friends, other than a couple of middle-class black kids who were not from the inner city, did not speak in "ebonics" and acted no differently than any of us other kids. However, if we had some black kid from the inner city who acted like a thug and an ignoramus, then things might have been a little different.

People don't like people who act like that. I think a lot of people's "disdain" for "black culture" is based on that, more so than the color of their skin.

Oh. You're a female?

What a CU*T

Ouchie, that really hurts my delicate sensibilities.

 

[pillars]

I don't think the billboard is racist on its own merits. However, it was purchased and supported by a racist organization (i.e., they believe that people of other cultures and colors are inferior to whites).

 

[ChrisL]

I don't think the billboard is racist on its own merits. However, it was purchased and supported by a racist organization (i.e., they believe that people of other cultures and colors are inferior to whites).

I agree, and that's all I was saying too. Hopefully, they don't start calling you a racist now.

 

[pillars]

The obvious inference when a billboard like that is purchased by a racist group is that they do not love people who aren't white.

 

[ChrisL]

The obvious inference when a billboard like that is purchased by a racist group is that they do not love people who aren't white.

Yes, that is exactly what I said earlier in the thread. I said that the saying on the billboard itself is not racist, but given the source it probably has more nefarious meaning. Yet, STILL some people choose to say I'm a bigot. This is their way of shutting down any kind of conversation about the topic of racism.